Maiden and married names

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When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of his or her spouse, that name replaces the person's birth surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name (birth name is also used as a gender-neutral or masculine substitute for maiden name), whereas a married name is a family name or surname adopted by a person upon marriage.

In some jurisdictions, changing one's name requires a legal procedure. Nevertheless, in some jurisdictions anyone who either marries or divorces may change his or her name. Due to increasing security and identification needs, even where it is legal, the common law method is rarely accepted anymore except at marriage (especially for women). Traditionally, in the Anglophone West only women do so, but in rare instances men may change their last names upon marriage as well.

In the United States, only eight states have an official name change for a man as part of their marriage process and others may petition a court or--where not prohibited--use the common law method (though government agencies sometimes do not recognize this procedure for men). Due to the widespread practice of women changing their names at marriage, they encounter little difficulty using the common law method at marriage in those jurisdictions that permit it.

Video Maiden and married names

Customs relating to maiden names in marriages

In the remainder of this article, birth name, family name, surname, married name and maiden name refer to patrilineal surnames unless explicitly described as referring to matrilineal surnames.

Canada

In most of Canada, either partner may informally assume the spouse's surname after marriage, so long as it is not for the purposes of fraud. The same is true for people in common-law relationships, in some provinces. This is not considered a legal name change in most provinces, excluding British Columbia. For federal purposes, such as a Canadian passport, Canadians may also assume their partner's surname if they are in a common-law relationship. In the province of British Columbia, people have to undergo a legal name change if they want to use a combined surname after marriage. Their marriage certificate is considered proof of their new name.

The custom in Québec was similar to the one in France until 1981. Women would traditionally go by their husbands' surname in daily life, but their maiden name remained their legal name. Since the passage of a 1981 provincial law intended to promote gender equality as outlined in the Québec Charter of Rights, no change may be made to a person's name without the authorization of the registrar of civil status or the authorization of the court. Newlyweds who wish to change their names upon marriage must therefore go through the same procedure as those changing their names for other reasons. The registrar of civil status may authorize a name change if: 1) the name the person generally uses does not correspond to the name on their birth certificate, 2) the name is of foreign origin or too difficult to pronounce or write in its original form, or 3) the name invites ridicule or has become infamous. This law does not make it legal for a woman to immediately change her name upon marriage, as marriage is not listed among the reasons for a name change.

English-speaking world

For many, the decision whether to keep or change their birth name is a difficult one. This process is expedited for newly married persons in that their marriage certificate, in combination with identification using their married name, is usually accepted as evidence of the change, due to the widespread custom, but the process still requires approaching every contact who uses the old name and asking them to use the new. Unless the statutes where the marriage occurred specify that a name change may occur at marriage (in which case the marriage certificate indicates the new name), the courts have officially recognized that such a change is a result of the common law right of a person (man, woman, and sometimes child) to change their name. However, men encounter more difficulties in changing their last names. There were some early cases which held that under the common law, a woman was required (in the U.S.) to take her husband's name, but newer cases overturned those. Women do not have to change their names by law.

Common options

Use husband's family name

Historically, a woman in England would assume her new husband's family name (or surname) after marriage, usually compelled to do so under coverture laws. This remains common practice in the United Kingdom today as well as in common law countries and countries where English is spoken, including Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Ireland, India, Philippines, the English-speaking provinces of Canada and the United States. In some communities in India, spouses and children taken on the first name or proper name of the father and often present interesting variations to name adoption including family name adoption. In Massachusetts, for instance, a 2004 Harvard study found approximately 87% of married college educated women take their husbands' name, down from a peak before 1975 of over 90%, but up from about 80% in 1990. The same study found women with a college degree were "two to four times (depending on age) more likely to retain their surname" relative to those without a college degree.

In the lowlands of Scotland in the 16th century, married women did not change their surnames, but today the practice of changing to the husband's family name is the norm.

Usually, the children of these marriages are given their father's surname. Some families have a custom of using the mother's maiden name as a middle name for one of the children--Franklin Delano Roosevelt received his middle name in this way or even as a first name. Spessard Holland, a former Governor of the U.S. State of Florida, and a former U.S. Senator, whose mother's maiden name was Virginia Spessard, received his first name in this way.

Retain the birth name

Persons who keep their own surname after marriage do so for a number of reasons. Objection to the inequality of the tradition is one major reason. Some people are the last ones in the family with that surname. Others don't want to bother with the paperwork. Common reasons for maintaining their birth name include not wanting to lose their identity, preferring their last name to their spouse's last name, and fear of professional ramifications.

The American suffragist and abolitionist Lucy Stone (1818-1893), made a national issue of the right to keep one's own surname as part of her efforts for women's rights in the U.S. Because of her, women who choose not to use their husbands' surnames have been called "Lucy Stoners".

Join both names (hyphenation)

It is less common for women, especially in the U.S. and Canada, to combine their spouse's name with their own birth name. About 7% of American women hyphenate their name with their spouse's name upon marriage.

Name blending

Although less common than name joining, a growing trend is the blending of two surnames upon marriage. An example is Dawn O'Porter who blended her husband's surname with her own.

Birth name as middle name

Examples include Hillary Rodham Clinton and Kim Kardashian West.

Children

In the United States, some states or areas have laws that restrict what surname a child may have. For example, Tennessee allows a child to be given a surname that does not include that of the father only upon "the concurrent submission of a sworn application to that effect signed by both parents."

Legal status of name changes at marriage

In 2007, Michael Buday and Diana Bijon enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union and filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state of California. According to the ACLU, the obstacles facing a husband who wishes to adopt his wife's last name violate the equal protection clause provided by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. At the time of the lawsuit, only the states of Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota explicitly allow a man to change his name through marriage with the same ease as a woman. As a result of the lawsuit, the Name Equality Act of 2007 was passed to allow either spouse to change their name, using their marriage license as the means of the change; the law took effect in 2009.

In 2013, a Florida man successfully forced the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles to accept his decision to take his wife's last name.

Feminism and preserving one's personal name

Jane Grant, co-founder of The New Yorker, wrote in 1943 of her efforts to keep her name despite her marriage, as well as other women's experiences with military service, passports, voting, and business. She and others formed the Lucy Stone League, named for Lucy Stone, who had earlier won her fight to keep her name. "We [in the League] . . . made ourselves generally troublesome", with legal cases, mass meetings, signing into hotels openly, and going to Washington, D.C.

Use as security question

One's mother's maiden name has been a common security question in American banking since at least the 1980s.

France

Since the 1789 Revolution, the law stipulates that "no one may use another name than that given on his birth certificate".

From 4 March 2002 to 4 December 2009, children given both parents' names had to have them separated by a double dash (ex: Dupont--Clairemont). On 4 December 2009, the Conseil d'État ruled that a space can be used instead of the double dash. As a result, forms asking for the family name ("nom de famille") do so on 2 lines ("1ère partie: ..... ", "2e partie....")

Germany

In Germany, the name law has been ruled by sexual equality since 1977: a woman may adopt her husband's surname or a man may adopt his wife's surname. One of them may use a name combined from both surnames. The remaining single name is the "family name" (Ehename), which will be the surname of the children. If a man and woman decide to keep and use their birth names after the wedding (no combined name), they have to declare one of those names the "family name". A combined name is not possible as a family name, but, since 2005, it has been possible to have a double name as a family name if one already had a double name, and the partner adopts that name. Double names then must be hyphenated. All family members must use that double name.

Austria

In Austria, since the 1st of April 2013, marriage does not automatically change a woman's name; therefore a name change can only take place upon legal application. Before that date, the situation was the opposite: a married woman's name was changed to that of her husband, unless she legally applied to opt-out of the default situation.

Greece

Since 1983, when Greece adopted a new marriage law which guaranteed gender equality between the spouses, women in Greece are required to keep their birth names for their whole life.

Turkey

Since 2014, women in Turkey are allowed to keep their birth names alone for their whole life instead of using their husbands' names. Prior to this case, the Turkish Code of Civil Law Article 187 required a married woman to compulsorily obtain her husband's surname after the marriage; or otherwise, to use her birth name in front of her husband's name by giving a written application to the marriage officer or the civil registry office. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that prohibiting married women from retaining only maiden names is a violation of their rights.

Italy

Spouses keep their original surnames. According to the Italian Civil Code (article 143 bis), a woman who marries keeps her surname and has the option of adding her husband's surname after hers. Non-Italian citizens getting married in Italy will not have their surname changed in Italy. However, brides or grooms can request their surname change in their home country.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, persons who have been married in the Netherlands or entered into a registered partnership will remain registered under their birth name. They are, however, permitted to use their partner's last name for social purposes or join both names. Upon marriage or registered partnership, one may also indicate how they would like to be addressed through the registration of their choice in the Municipal Basis Administration (Gemeentelijke Basis Administratie) (although their birth name does not change). One may choose to be called by one's own name, one's partner's name, one's own name followed by one's partner's name (hyphenated) or one's partner's name followed by their own name (hyphenated). Both men and women may make this choice upon registering to get married or entering into a registered partnership. Upon the end of the marriage or registered partnership, one person may continue to use their ex-partner's last surname unless the ex-partner disagrees and requests the court to forbid the use of the ex-partner's surname.

However, while name changes due to marriages performed in the Netherlands cannot be processed, it is certainly possible in the Netherlands to process name changes due to marriages performed outside the Netherlands, provided certain conditions are met.

These conditions are the marriage must be registered abroad, the application for name change abroad must be requested on the same date as the marriage date, the changed name must be recorded abroad on a certificate in accordance with the local rules of the foreign country and the marriage and name change as well as proof of application as of the date of the marriage must be legalized/apostilled and provided to the Dutch consulate or Dutch municipality upon return to the Netherlands.

This stems from the fact that international marriages are not necessarily governed by Dutch Law but by Private International Law which is codified in the Netherlands in the "Commoner's Law Book (Burgerlijke Wetboek)" Book No. 10, Private International Law, Title 2 - The Name, Article 24 which can be found on the internet.

Prior to the birth or adoption of a first child, married parents may choose by which surname the child will go (mother's or father's but not both). If no choice is made, the child automatically obtains the father's surname. Any further children will also go by this name. If the parents of the child are not married, the children will automatically obtain their mother's name unless otherwise indicated.

Russia

There is a widespread, though not universal, custom for a newly married wife to adopt the husband's family name. However, as Russia is not a common law country, any name change requires a formal procedure including an official application to the civil acts registrar. As the same registrar also records marriages, for the convenience sake it is often done during the marriage proceedings, as governed by the Federal Law #143-FZ "On Civil State Acts", and the couple's marriage certificate has an option of having one common family name, or both spouses going by their original surname. However, the law is entirely gender neutral, and the couple may adopt either of their surnames (a husband adopting his wife's family name is an uncommon but by no means unheard-of practice, which is generally accepted and carries little to no social stigma), or even a completely different one. The law also recognizes the couple's right to use the combined family name, and for the either of the spouses to reclaim their original surname in the case the marriage is dissolved.

Spanish-speaking world

Spouses keep their original surnames. Following Spanish naming customs, a person's name consists of a given name (simple or composite) followed by two family names (surnames), the father's and the mother's (except in Argentina, where only the rich use this as symbol of status). Any children a couple have together take both first-surnames, so if "José Gómez Hevia" and "María Reyes García" had a child named "Andrés", the resulting name would be "Andrés Gómez Reyes". In Spain, a 1995 reform in the law allows the parents to choose whether the father's or the mother's surname goes first, although this order must be the same for all their children. For instance, the name of the son of the couple in the example above could be settled whether "Andrés Gómez Reyes" or "Andrés Reyes Gómez".

In some Spanish-American countries it is customary for women to unofficially add the husband's first surname after her own, for social purposes such as invitation letters or event announcements. The couple above may introduce themselves as José Gómez Hevia and María Reyes de Gómez.

Philippines

The Civil Code of the Philippines has options for a married woman on the surname to take upon marriage. A married woman can:

• keep her middle name (maternal surname) and add her husband's surname to the maiden name (e.g. Maria Isabella Flores Garcia-Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella F. Garcia-Dimaculangan)
• take the husband's surname and make her maiden name the middle name (Maria Isabella Garcia Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella G. Dimaculangan)
• take the husband's full name, but prefixed to indicate that she is his wife (e.g. Mrs./Ms. Dimaculangan)

A woman may have an option to keep her maiden name after marriage, as no Philippine law requires a woman to take her husband's surname at marriage.

The Civil Code also states that children as the result of the marriage will take the mother's middle name (maiden surname) and the father's surname. To illustrate this, the children of a married couple named Maria Josefa Lopez Mañego-Luansing and Juan Candido Luansing will take the middle name Mañego and the surname Luansing, so, one daughter with a given name of Juliana will be named Juliana Mañego Luansing.

Married women in professional circles (e.g. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Korina Sanchez-Roxas, Vilma Santos-Recto) typically join their maiden and married surnames in both professional and legal use (e.g. Maria Isabella Flores Garcia-Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella F. Garcia-Dimaculangan). This allows them to be identified as married, and keep track of their professional achievements without having their names mean another person (e.g. Maria Isabella Flores Garcia/Ma. Isabella F. Garcia, as against Maria Isabella Garcia Dimaculangan/Ma. Isabella G. Dimaculangan)

An older scheme based on Spanish naming customs add the particle de between the maiden and married surnames (e.g. Maria Isabella Garcia de Dimaculangan or Ma. Isabella G. de Dimaculangan), but the tradition is no longer common.

Taiwan

Taiwanese women generally keep their surnames after marriage while their children may inherit either the father's or the mother's. It is, however, legal to take the spouse's surname. Some older women have the husband's surname added to theirs, as was common in the early to mid-20th century.

Thailand

A Thai wife who adopted her husband's surname due to the old law requiring it, can also change back to her original surname.

Japan

Japanese law does not recognize married couples who have different surname as lawful husband and wife, which means that 96% of married Japanese women take their husband's surname. In 2015, the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the name-change law, ruling that it was not unconstitutional, noting that women could use informally their maiden names, and stating that it was the parliamentarians who should decide on whether to pass new legislation on separate spousal names.

China

Traditionally, a married woman keeps her name unchanged, without adopting her husband's surname. A child would inherit his/her father's surname. This is still the norm in mainland China, though the marriage law explicitly states that a child may use either parent's surname. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to combine both parents' surnames. Due to Western influence, some areas of greater China, such as Hong Kong and Macau, have also adopted the tradition of women changing their last name, or prepending their husband's to her own.

Korea

Traditionally, Korean women keep their family names after their marriage, but their children take the father's surname. In the premodern, patriarchal Korean society, people were extremely conscious of familial values and their own family identities. Korean women keep their surnames after marriage based on traditional reasoning that it is what they inherited from their parents and ancestors.

Maps Maiden and married names

Genealogy

Genealogists often also make note of all surnames used by a person during his or her lifetime (such as those acquired from birth parents, those assigned at birth when the father is unknown or not acknowledged, those acquired at marriage, and those acquired at a remarriage). For example, an illegitimate male child abandoned at birth in Italy or in other European countries will receive no surname from either of his birth parents but, instead, will be assigned a surname--often invented from one of the three kingdoms of nature, e.g., mineral ("Pietra"), vegetable ("Rosa") or animal ("Leoni"), or otherwise according to custom within a locality, such as "Esposito" (meaning "abandoned") or "Casa Grande" (referring to the "Domo Magna," e.g., the ospizio [hospital] where abandoned).

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See also

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References

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External links

• Why should women change their names on getting married? - a history of name changing upon marriage in the UK and in the US

Source of the article : Wikipedia